Loading apparatus.



I. & E. A; HERTZ.

LOADING APPARATUS.

APPLIIUATION FILED mo. 2, 1909.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

4 SHEET6-SHEL INVEITbRS WITNESSL? W LM 0- ARATUS.

APPLY ATION FILED DEC.

Patented Apr. 1, 191;,

4 SHEIZ1'S'-SHEET 2.

INVENTORS %.\\Ud% x 11 41, CD1 14% I. & E. A HERTZ.

LOADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC 2, was

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

4 SHEETSSHEET 34 INVENTORS a (m UK (3 M mi *inu'v (11 1, k A. HERTZ.

LOADING AYPARATUi APPu'uATmN rum 1m OFFICE.

IsA K' nnn'rz' AN semen A. s ite-{51 "I Ionrns'rs n. PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS or ONE-HALF 'rofosonon m Pn as'rQN, or rI rTsBUnoH, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOADING 'ArrAnA'rUs.

Bpecltlcattoxi at Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

Application filed December 2,1908. Serial No. 530,947.

T 0 all wlwm it may concern:

Be it known that we, IsAAK HERTZ and EDWARD A. Han'rz, of HomesteadQ-in the county of Allegheny and State of ennsylvania, have invented a new. and useful Improvement in Loadin A paratus, of which the followin is a full, clear, and exact de scription, reiierence being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal side elevation of a crane runway constructed in accordance with our invention and having loading apparatus constructed and arranged in accordance with our invention mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a detail side.elevation partly in section of the loading a paratus shown in Fig. l as constructed an arranged in accordance with our invention. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the apparatus shown in Figs. 2 and 3 showing the means employed for guiding the mast to which the loading bucket is secured. Fi 5 is a detail side elevation showing the mec anism for opening and closing the grab bucket.

Our invention relates to apparatus used in handlin ore, coal, lime-stone and similar materials, in transferring such materials to and from boats, cars, storage-bins or stockpiles and one object of the invention is to provide loading apparatus having im roved means for handling and operatin t e apparatus by the use of which the iucket is under the control of the operator when the bucket is being placed in position to pick up a load of materials as well as when the bucket is being transferred or is being emptied of its contents.

A further object of the invention is to )rovide improved means by which the bucket of the loading apparatus is laced in the desired position and is positively moved into the materials to be handled in loading the bucket,

In the drawings 2 is a crane structure or bridge having track rails 3 mounted upon track girders 4 which are supported upon the columns 5. The crane structure may be braced in any well known manner as is desired. On the end of the bridge is a pivoted or hinged overhanging extension 6 having track rails 3 thereon and the outer end of this pivoted section 6 is connected by a suitable flexible connection 8 with the drum 9 which is connected to a suitable driving motor 10.

The overhanging hinged portion 6 is pivotally connected by eye-bars 11 to the top of the columns 5, the adjoining ends of the eye-bars 11 being pivotally connected together by the pins 11.

The crane runway tracks are shown located on the edge of a slip or dock, so that the over-hanging end of the crane extends over vessels 12 and the crane structure or bridge proper extends above loading tracks 13, 14 having cars 15, 16 thereon and a stock pile 17.

Secured below the overhead track of the crane so as to move on its so )port 18 is a funnel or chute 19 into which the loaded buckets are emptied to discharge materials into the cars 15. Preferably the crane structure is mounted upon tracks extending parallel with the slip or dock so as to be movable on the track rails 20 and enable the loading apparatus to be moved from batch to hatch of the vessels or into different po sitions in the len th of the stock pile.

As shown in igs. 2 and 3, the loading apparatus consists iii a trolley or carriage having track wheels 21 which are mounted upon track rails 3 of the crane or bridge. The trolley or carria e on the crane is caused to travel on the track rails 3 by means of the motor 22 which is connected by slow down gearing with the shaft 24 on which the wheels 21 are mounted. The trolley or carriage consists in the frame formed by the columns 25 which are connected together by the top girders or struts 26 and bottom girders 27. The cross bracing for the trolley, omitted for the sake of clearness, may be of any approved design. Mounted on the bottom of he frame. formed by the girders or beams '27 is a vertical post or mast 28 having toothed racks 29 and 80 on opposite sides, the teeth of which are in mesh with pinions 31 and 32 located on opposite sides' of the mast 28. The pinions 31 and 32 are connected by slow down gears 53 and 3i with a driving motor by which the mast 28 and grab bucket on the lower end are raised and lowered on the frame of the trolley ,or, carriage. flhe upper; endjof;

bucket having movable sections 38 and 39 which are pivotally secured'to the bucket carrier 40 which is rotatably attached to the end of the mast 28. An. anti-friction ballbearing 41 is provided to reduce thepower necessary to rotate the bucket horizontally on the mast 28 and mounted on the top of the bucket carrier 40 is a motor 42 which is connected by the bevelpinion 43 with the bevel gear 44 whichis rigidly secured to the vertically movable mast 28.

To prevent the trolle or carriage lifting on its track when forcln the grab bucket into the materials to be andled, the lugs or flanges 21 on the wheel trucks are arran ed to engage with the guard formed by thebeams 4" located parallel with and above the track rails 3.

One end of each of the sections 38 and 39 forming the bucket is pivotall secured by pins 45 to the brackets 46 on t 1e carrier 40 and the lower end of themovable bucket sections 38 and 39 is connected by the links 47 and 48 to a cross-head 49 which is mounted in the carrier 40 so as to be vertically movable. The carrier 40 is also provided with a cam 50 which is operatively mounted in a suitable openin in the cr0sshead 49, the cam shaft 51 being secured in bearings provided for that purpose in the sides of the cam support, and the outer end of this shaft' is connected by slow down gears 52 and 53 with a driving motor 54 mounted on the bracket 55 which is secured to the side of the carrier 40. 4

The cam 50 is provided with a flattened surface portion 50" which engages with the cam openings in the cross-head 49 to assist in holdin the bucket in its extreme open and closed position and to indicate to the operator when the full opened and closed position of the bucket is reached.

The mast 28 with the bucket and bucket operating mechanism is counter-balanced by means 0 tachcd by suitable flexible connections 57, passing over pulleys 58 on the frame work of the trolley to the cross-head 36 so as to lessen the power necessary to raise and lower the bucket and to prevent damage to the bucket in case of accident to the bucket lift-- in mechanism. As the bucket must be raised and lowered rapidly, a cushionim device is provided on the upper end oi the spider 36 which, as shown, consists of a spring cushion 59 mounted on the spider 36 which is arranged to strike the stop 60 se- Theinast; is.

counter-weights 56 whichare at-- menses,

cured to the sheet forming part of the frame of'the trolley.

In'the operation of our improved apparatus, the operator is preferab y stationed .mia cage tilavhich is secured to and moves With the trolley or carriage. In unloading materials from a vessel into cars, or on a stock pile, the vessel is placed in the position shown in Fig. 1 and the pivoted end section 6 of the crane is then lowered into the position shown in Fig. 1, the links 11 determining the lowermost position of the movablesection 6 and holding the overhang ing section in this position. The trolley 1s then moved on the track rails 3 until immediately above a hatch of the vessel 12 in the position shown in Fig. 1, and the motor 35 is 'then caused to actuate the mast so as to lower the bucket on the mast 28 into thehold of the vessel. The bucket is caused to assume the open position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings before bein lowered lnto'the vessel. This position is the extreme outward limit of movement of the bucket bein held in this position by the cam 50 an as the mast is lowered, the bucket, after contacting with the top of the materials in the vessel is pushed or forced downwardly into the materials. This operation is of particular value, especially in winter, when the materials being handled are frozen, as a depth to which the bucket enters into the materials is not governed solely by the weight of the bucket, and lowering mechanism,'and the bucket may be forced into the frozen materials and is enabled to grasp a full load. The motor 54 is then caused to rotate and, through the slowdown gearing 52 and 53, actuates the cam 50 so as to close the bucket into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The mast is then raised until it is again in the osit-ion shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings an the motor 22 is actuated so as to cause ,the trolley to travel on the crane or bridge until the bucket is above the chute or hopper 19 which is located above the car to be loaded or to travel on the bridge until in the position above the stock pile in which it is desired by the operator to discharge the materials on the stock pile. The above operations are then repeated until the vessel has been emptied of its cargo.

The vessel may be moved from time to time to bring the several hatches into the proper position to be unloaded or, in cases where our improved apparatus is used with a traveling crane structure as shown in the drawings, the crane is moved successively into position over each of the hatches of the vessel.

In unloading vessels, considerable of the cargo, which is located between the hatches. 1S ditiicult to load into the bucket without shoveling and by means of my improved apparatus; this ditiiculty is overcome. After the buckethas been lowered below the level of the deck of the vessel, the bucket is turned or rotated vertically by means of the motor 42 through the gears 43 and 44 to bring itinto position beneath the. ortion of the eck between the'hatches. T e operator being stationed in the cage on the trolley is in position to see the location of the bucket relative to the material to be loaded and in this way can grasp materials with the bucket which are not directly beneath the hatch. The turning of the bucket also ermits of the bucket being closed at any ang e to which it may be placed by the turning mechanism.

When it is desired to load materials into the car 16, the operator causes the bucket to engage with the side of the chute 19 and move it on its track 18 until in position above the car 16, and, when necessary, moves the chute 19 out of its position above the tracks 13 and 14 so as to not interfere with the passage of locomotives or cars high enough to engage with the chute 19.

The apparatus shown and described ma be used for loading material from the stock pile 17 into the cars 15 or 16 or into the vessel 12 when desired, in which case the bucketwill be caused to operate, so as to descend and close upon materials in the stock pile and then transfer such materials to a position above the hopper or chute 19 so as to discharge the buckets into either of the cars 15 or 16 or into a vessel which is being loaded.

Modifications in the construction and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from our invention.

The loading bucket may be any of the well known ciam-shell,orange peel, or other type of grab bucket. The loading apparatus may be employed on the ordinary stationary overhead traveling crane, cantaliver crane or gauntree crane, as is desired. The means employed for 'countor-balancing the bucket and mast may be varied. The mechanism for operatin the bucket and for rotating the bucket. may TX} changed and other variations made within the scope of our broader claims.

\Ve claim:

1. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a movable carriage or trolle a vertical mast mounted thereon, gui ing .means for the masti a cushioning stop device for the mast at the imit of its upward movement, a motive device for vertically reciprocating the mast, and a bucket connected to the lower end of the mast to be forced downwardly thereby into the material to be handled, together with means for opening and closing the bucket and for positively holding it open as it is moved downwardly and forced into the material to be loaded, substantially as described.

2. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a movable trolley or carriage, a mast mounted for vertical movcn'ient thereon, a motor carried by the trolley or carriage and geared to racks upon opposite sides of the mast and a bucket connected to the mast, substantially as described.

3. Apparatus of the character described, comprisin a movable carriage, a mastmounted t ereon for vertical movement and having rack bars at opposite sides, a motor on the carriage and geared to both rack bars, a bucket carried by the mast, and means for opening and closingthe bucket and for holding it open as it is forced downwardly by the mast, substantially as described.

4. Apparatus of the character described. comprising a movable trolley or carriage, a mast mounted for vertical movement thereon, a motor carried by the trolley or carriage for reciprocating the mast, a bucketcarried by the mast, a rotatable connection between the bucket and mast,a motor carried by the bucket for rotating it on said connection, said motor being geared to the mast, and means for opening and closing the bucket, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

ISAAK I-llllt'lZ. EDlVAlll) A. HF, i'lZ. i tnesses S. l). Iii-12min, J. M. J. CONNHLLY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Iatcnts. Washington, D. C." 

